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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/28292337">With me.</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/ilostmyothersock/pseuds/ilostmyothersock'>ilostmyothersock</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>The Old Guard (Movie 2020)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Captivity, Dehydration, Protective Andy | Andromache of Scythia, Protective Nicky | Nicolò di Genova, Starvation</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-12-24</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-01-02</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-11 00:14:46</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>3</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>6,365</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/28292337</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/ilostmyothersock/pseuds/ilostmyothersock</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Andy and Nicky get taken and kept captive. Post-movie.</p><p>TW: kidnapping, starvation, dehydration, weight loss, temporary character death (I mean it’s The Old Guard?), a bit of blood, mentions of violence, self-harm.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Andy | Andromache of Scythia &amp; Nicky | Nicolò di Genova, Andy | Andromache of Scythia/Quynh | Noriko, Joe | Yusuf Al-Kaysani/Nicky | Nicolò di Genova</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>55</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>295</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Chapter 1</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>For all her years, Andy cannot remember having felt purpose like this before. Knowing that her body no longer heals does nothing to dissuade her - if anything, it motivates her further. She may break, she may hurt but she now sees, as she hasn’t in centuries (maybe ever) that it is worth it.</p><p>Nile seems to accept her leadership, and follows it without question.</p><p>Nicky and Joe, however, draw on almost two thousand years of combined stubbornness trying to keep her from harm.</p><p>Nicky researches nutrition and tries to serve her balanced (boring, bland) meals despite her protests. Joe finds her the best available body armour (never mind how it moves). They both throw themselves in front of her at every possible opportunity. (This isn’t to say that Nile doesn’t, in the face of real danger - just that Nicky and Joe don’t seem to understand that she doesn’t need protecting from traffic or raccoons or hot oil on the stove).</p><p>She doesn’t think she’s been particularly careless - they vet jobs as they’ve always done, and now they have Copley to help. She’s not reckless, just filled with purpose, with vigour, with the need to do right. Besides, all her years have taught her that sometimes, despite best efforts, jobs go wrong.</p><p>It doesn’t entirely bother her that they’ve been locked up in a cell. It’s hardly the first time, after all. Besides, she has every faith in Nile and Joe and Copley to track them down.</p><p>What she does hate with every fibre of her being, is that Nicky is locked up with her.</p><p>He reassures her, because of course he does, that it isn’t her fault, just as she reassures him that it isn’t his.</p><p>They’ve been captured together before, they all have, really, and they know the routine. They have exhausted their options for escape, have tried at every opportunity, and have failed. All they’ve managed to do is maybe piss off their captors a little more than was strictly necessary. It isn’t in them to just give up and accept their predicament, though - they need to try everything first. Once they’ve done this, however, all that’s left to do is wait.</p><p>It’s all standard procedure, as far as standard procedure goes for a bunch of immortal warriors. Andy finds the way that criminals haven’t really changed the core of their modus operandi in decades more than a little tiresome. There’s an angry kingpin (with his fingers in many increasingly unconscionable pies) who doesn’t believe that nobody hired them, who scoffs at their insistence that there aren’t more of them, a selection of cronies and hired hands who are all too happy to try to beat the answers out of them, and a general limited amount of food, water, and warmth to make them extra miserable. Frankly, she’s bored with it.</p><p>Joe is coming. Nile is coming. They just have to bide their time, like every time this has happened before.</p><p>The one difference - the only difference - is that this time Andy is mortal.</p><p>Nicky (and Joe, her boys, her beloved boys) have always hated it when she put herself in danger, and even more so when she did it to protect them. But, until this point, they recognized her leadership and would defer to it. They accepted that this sometimes meant letting her take the brunt of their latest opponent’s anger if she felt it necessary to keep them safe, or to get them out of a sticky situation.</p><p>This time, however, there is no dissuading Nicky. No command, no proposed strategy will change his mind. Andy still puts up a fight, but eventually he turns those big, plaintive eyes on her and admits in a soft voice that the best way she can keep him safe right now is if she lets him take care of her - if she lets him stop them from doing something to her which cannot be undone.</p><p>Andy has never been able to say no to Nicky when he looks at her like that, and this time is no different.</p><p>So, she agrees. When their captors come in to see if they’re ready to talk, Nicky is the one who goads them, infuriates them. When they’re delivered pitiful meals, he refuses his half, begging with his soulful eyes.</p><p><em>I can starve,</em> he says. <em>You can’t.</em></p><p><em>I don’t need water,</em> he says. <em>You do.</em></p><p>Andy hates it. She doesn’t feel mortal, she feels the same as she always has. She feels strong, she feels enraged, she wants to protect her Nico. She wants to shield him from the world. She knows, logically, that after nine hundred years there isn’t much innocence left, but still he feels so young to her. They both do. They all do.</p><p>She thinks of the plea in his eyes, though, the desperation in his face as he silently begs her to stay behind him, to stay silent, to let him take it, and so she does.</p><p>She suspects it isn’t entirely quick tempers or even benevolence that has their captors keep taking Nicky’s bait, though - she suspects that the brighter among them recognize the look in her eyes - they see that by hurting Nicky they hurt her more than they could by beating her.</p><p>---</p><p>They lose track of time. There is no natural light in the room they are in, so they don’t really know how many days have passed. Andy isn’t sure if the room is getting colder, or if they’re maybe just getting weaker with lack of food. Perhaps both.</p><p>The first few days their captors try violence, but when neither of them cracks (and also as they seem to take out no small number of henchmen every time they are in the same room as them) they seem to settle on trying to starve the answers they want out of them. Nicky continues to insist on giving Andy his share, so while she doesn’t know exactly how many days it’s been, she knows it’s been long enough for Nicky to start looking grey with dehydration. She suspects he will die from it soon, but when she brings this up to him he just gives her a tired smile and reminds her that it’s fine if he does - he will come back. The only thing that seems to matter to him is that she doesn’t.</p><p>She’s miserable - cold and damp and hungry - but what hurts the most is watching Nicky waste away beside her.</p><p>---</p><p>They talk - or, at least, at the beginning they talk. As time goes on and Nicky grows weaker, it mostly becomes Andy talking while Nicky dozes (or lies unconscious, or dies and comes back) tucked into her side. It starts as discussions of possible means to escape (always in oldest languages they share, just in case anyone is listening), but when that seems to become increasingly hopeless, and as Nicky starts to lose the energy to hold his head up, Andy starts spending most of her time telling him her favourite stories of years gone by.</p><p>They (<em>he</em> - Andy reminds herself) might be immortal, but they are still human. Their bodies will heal, will regenerate but they need food and water to do so, so as Nicky fades and starts to die not only from lack of water but from starvation the deaths start to come closer and closer together. He will die from malnourishment, come back, and then, when his body realizes it still has no stores to draw from, still has no energy to heal itself with, he will die again.</p><p>Sometimes, when he is too out of it to protest, she tips small sips of water into his mouth. This tends to end up with him waking up enough to realize what she is doing, at which point he will turn tear-filled eyes on her and remind her that while he will come back from whatever physical trauma his body is put through, he will not be able to handle waking up to find her permanently dead beside him when he could have prevented it.</p><p>---</p><p>They move them once during their captivity. Having learned early on that entering the room while either of them is awake is dangerous, both times they accomplish the move by knocking them out with gas and transporting them while they’re unconscious. Andy comes to in a shipping container, bound with rope and alone. She makes quick work of the bindings before exhausting herself trying to find a way out. Nothing gives, no matter how hard she tries. </p><p>She loses time again. Perhaps more gas? Maybe her body just gave out? She isn’t sure, but when she wakes she and Nicky have been tossed in the same room again, carelessly dropped on the cold floor. There is blood on Nicky’s temple that wasn’t there before.</p><p>She wonders if their captors have realized that, no matter how much he bleeds, none of the marks linger on his skin. She hopes that the mess of dried blood he’s covered in is enough to mask the fact that he isn’t actually bleeding where he should be, because she doesn’t want to think about how their situation could get messier if they figured <em>that</em> out. Luckily, they seem to prefer keeping their distance (or perhaps they have just realized it is best for their own safety to not get too close).</p><p>Andy frees herself from her new bounds. Nicky stirs but doesn’t seem to have the energy to fully wake, so once Andy has repeated the process of checking their cell for potential means of escape (she doesn’t find any) she drags him to a corner of the room and, leaning against the wall, pulls him to her chest.</p><p>---</p><p>Someone comes to check on them what Andy assumes is once a day, with a bottle of water and some stale bread, or sometimes a can of soup and a demand for answers that they both don’t have and would never give anyway.</p><p>Nicky is barely more than skin and bones, a painfully fragile warmth (and sometimes lack thereof) in her arms. She is hardly any better, the food they get absolutely pitiful, but at least she hasn’t died of starvation. She isn’t the one who keeps coming to in stuttering huffs of air before inevitably going limp again - over and over and over.</p><p>---</p><p>Andy rouses from sleep. She’s hungry - hungrier than usual. She thinks they haven’t been fed in a while. Nicky is still slumped against her, his soft breaths puffing against her neck. She tiredly runs her hands through his dirty hair, brushing it back from his face as she wonders if they have given up on them entirely. She feels like it’s been too long, like they are overdue for food and questions, but she has no way of being sure. Maybe this day has just felt longer than the others. Maybe it’s been more than one.</p><p>The door opens with a clang. Andy doesn’t bother to look up, keeping her face buried in Nicky’s hair and keeping her own thin arms wrapped around his frail form as she holds him close on her lap. Even when she senses someone letting out a breath and dropping hard onto their knees beside her, she doesn’t look up. She would fight, but she doesn’t have the energy to. Maybe she could knock out this one with the remaining dregs of her strength, but then what? She doesn’t think she has it in her to fight her way out all while carrying Nicky, frighteningly light as he is at the moment.</p><p>Joe is coming. Nile is coming. They just have to wait.</p><p>A shaking hand meets hers where it is buried in Nicky’s hair. She flinches, but doesn’t pull away. The hand reaches across Nicky to tuck her own hair behind her ear. Initially she recoils, but then she takes a deep breath and tries to muster the reserves of her strength. The person is close. Maybe she could take this one out. She takes another breath, steeling herself. Her eyelashes brush against Nicky’s greasy hair as she blinks, her face still tucked down onto his head. She moves to look up but then she realizes that she knows that hand.</p><p>She knew that hand for millennia, but she hasn’t held it in hundreds of years.</p><p>She blinks, raising her head.</p><p>The world swims in front of her, and she blinks a few more times before it comes into focus.</p><p>She must be dreaming.</p><p>She hears shouting, sees the mouth in front of her moving but her brain doesn’t connect the sight with the sound. There’s the sound of running footsteps and Joe - or her mind’s conjured version of Joe - comes skidding around the corner, making a beeline for the three of them when he enters the room.</p><p>Suddenly, there are inexplicably warm hands pulling Nicky away from her. She clings tighter, clings with all the strength she has left as dream-Joe tries to take Nicky from her.</p><p>She huffs out a disgruntled protest, complains that <em>this is my dream, why can’t you do what I want - I want him with me,</em> before burying her face back into Nicky’s hair and trying to let the dream take her somewhere else. Perhaps her subconscious can take them somewhere warm.</p><p>She doesn’t get the chance. Moments later, hands are prying Nicky from her arms and she finds that she doesn’t have enough strength to keep fighting back. She opens her eyes again to see the arms pick Nicky up, cradling him against a broad chest. She sees Nile enter the room, coming up to her with her hands raised before pausing in front of her and giving her a brief relieved smile before hauling her to her feet and pulling her arm across strong shoulders.</p><p>She doesn’t see anybody else.</p><p>Just Joe and Nile.</p><p>Joe and Nile have come.</p><p>---</p><p>She vaguely remembers stumbling through hallways, Nile hauling her uncooperative body along. Joe is just ahead of them, Nicky held close.</p><p>Their path out is clear.</p><p>Some of the guards have been cut down, some have been shot, others, inexplicably, have been struck with arrows. Nicky hasn’t used a bow in decades, Joe in even longer. She didn’t realize Nile knew how.</p><p>When they reach the getaway car Nile helps her into the backseat before climbing in after her, taking her hand tightly in both of hers. Joe gets in on the other side with Nicky still in his arms, maneuvering awkwardly, trying to avoid bumping Nicky against the door.</p><p>Andy leans her head on Joe’s shoulder, leaving her right hand in Niles’ as her left buries itself in Nicky’s hair. She breathes in the smell of Joe’s shirt, finally allowing the last remnants of tension to leave her body. She sees Booker get into the driver’s seat. They must have needed to call him in for backup. The passenger seat is empty. She supposes they’re a little cramped in the back, but she doesn’t want to let go of Nile and she isn’t sure she would be able to handle Nicky or Joe moving away from her. She relaxes completely against Joe’s side, and relief so strong it makes her want to cry overcomes her as he presses a kiss to her hair.</p><p>She sleeps.</p><p>The passenger side door opens and shuts.</p><p>The wheels squeal as the car pulls away.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Chapter 2</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>NEW TW: self-harm (for the sake of immortality testing). The old TWs still apply.</p><p>Thank you to odyssxus for the beta!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Andy wakes as Nile gently pulls on her arm, helping her out of the car. Once she catches sight of Joe getting out on the other side, Nicky safely in his arms, she lets her eyes drift closed again, putting all of her energy into moving her feet forward as Nile guides her into the cottage. She stumbles once or twice but Nile is always there to haul her back to her feet. She pays no mind to the ebb and swell of concerned voices.</p><p>Joe is here, Nicky is here, Nile is here.</p><p>From the low rumble of speech coming from the house Booker is here too.</p><p>They are here. They are safe.</p><p>She can rest.</p><p>---</p><p>She dreams and she wakes.</p><p>Sometimes she thinks she’s awake when she’s dreaming. Sometimes she thinks she’s dreaming when she’s awake.</p><p>---</p><p>She’s fairly certain she’s not dreaming when she opens her eyes to find herself facing a cluttered bedside table and, blissfully, a glass of water. Realizing how desperately thirsty she is she reaches for it, downing a few large gulps before remembering that she should probably take things slowly. Finishing it at a more careful pace, she puts the empty glass back down before slumping against her pillow. She rolls over to find herself facing Joe, who is looking down at her with a wry smile.</p><p>“We tried to give you an IV,” Joe murmurs from where he is sitting against the headboard with Nicky’s head pillowed in his lap. One hand is on Nicky’s shoulder and the other reaches over to stroke her hair. “You ripped it out.”</p><p>“Sorry,” she mumbles. Joe’s hand stills briefly before he resumes running his fingers through her hair.</p><p>“It’s okay.” His voice is barely above a whisper. He reaches down to touch her arm, running circles on the inside of her forearm with his thumb. She looks down. Her skin is unmarred.</p><p>She turns her other arm over, inspecting it.</p><p>“How long has it been?”</p><p>“Since we got you out? A few hours.”</p><p>She nods.</p><p>“There isn’t a mark on you.”</p><p>She nods again, tears burning behind her eyes. “Nicky didn’t allow it.” </p><p>---</p><p>She wakes properly a few hours later. Joe is still sitting beside her, playing absentmindedly with Nicky’s hair.</p><p>When he realizes she is awake, he fixes her with an imploring look. “How do you feel?” She shrugs. She feels surprisingly okay considering what she just went through. She isn’t sure (she doesn’t remember) what she thought being mortal would feel like, but she really didn’t think it would feel like this. </p><p>“Copley contacted a doctor he trusts - ” when she immediately starts to push herself up, worry in her eyes, he shakes his head quickly. “He didn’t give any details about - you know. Nile was very clear. It… it was too soon after Merrick to risk it. Copley understood.” She slumps back down onto the pillow in relief. “He just gave the details of what happened - everything we knew, at least. The doctor gave Nile a list of things to look out for, things we could do - Copley got us what we needed.” </p><p>She nods. That makes sense. It explains the medical supplies on the bedside table. “But you’re okay. You clearly haven’t been fed well in a while, but you’re okay. We would have brought you to a doctor regardless, if you weren’t.”</p><p>She nods again. “Nicky…”</p><p>Joe sighs, turning his gaze to Nicky’s sleeping face. “Yeah… he’s… he’ll be okay. We’ve done this before.”</p><p>She nods. They have, many times. Still, her heart clenches as she brings a hand up to run it down the side of Nicky’s face. “He gave me his share of food, every single day. He took every beating - probably some that he didn’t need to.”</p><p>Joe huffs out a breath, not quite a laugh. “He can be mouthy when he wants to be.”</p><p>Andy tries to smile. She fails. “He refused water so I could have it.” She’s crying now and she can’t stop. Joe squeezes her hand. “He said, he kept saying, that anything physical he could handle. Said the best way I could protect him was by letting him protect me.” Her vision is blurry with tears, her breath hitches. “But I think <em>they</em> knew that the best way to hurt me was to hurt him.” Suddenly, it feels very important that he knows, “We didn’t tell them anything.”</p><p>---</p><p>She wakes up to the sight of Nicky facing her, Joe curled up behind his back. Nicky’s eyes are closed, his breath slow and even in sleep, but she thinks he looks better - a little less grey.</p><p>She feels better herself.</p><p>She reaches out to brush some of his hair back from his forehead. His face is blessedly blood-free. Someone must have cleaned him off.</p><p>“You’re an idiot,” she mumbles. She tucks some of his hair behind his ear. “But you’re <em>our</em> idiot.”</p><p>Nicky doesn’t stir, which speaks to how exhausted he must be - he has always been a light sleeper.</p><p>He’ll be okay. He’ll bounce back quickly. Now that his body is getting the fuel it needs to heal itself properly, it will make quick work of getting him out of the danger zone. The exhaustion may take time to fully dissipate, the weight and muscle may take some time to come back properly, but it will, eventually.</p><p>In all likelihood, he’ll be up and functional before she is.</p><p>---</p><p>There’s a soft knock on the door. From where she’s lying down Andy can’t see who’s peering in, but Joe does. His eyes widen briefly before he nods and moves to get up, moving carefully to try to not wake Nicky as he untangles himself. Once he’s up he reaches over to squeeze her shoulder and then - </p><p>She blinks.</p><p>She blinks again.</p><p>Damn, she really had been so sure they were safe. The realization that their rescue must have been a dream after all makes her want to cry. She reaches for Nicky’s hand, gripping it tightly in her own.</p><p>Joe smooths her hair back from her face before squeezing her shoulder again, a small, knowing smile on his face.</p><p>His touch feels real.</p><p>He leans down to press a kiss to her forehead. While he’s hunched over, he whispers a soft “You’re not dreaming, Andy, I promise,” into her ear.</p><p>He gets up and passes Quynh with a gentle touch to her arm. She murmurs something to him and he nods, heading out into the hallway.</p><p>It can’t be real.</p><p>Joe told her it was real.</p><p>Her grip on Nicky’s arm is real.</p><p>The cold drop of a tear down her cheek is real.</p><p>Quynh is standing in front of her, an almost nervous look on her face.</p><p>Her very, <em>very</em> real face.</p><p>Should she wake Nicky? This feels like something he would want to be awake for, but with Joe having stepped out of the room she can’t help but want a moment longer to take it in.</p><p>Nicky’s arm is warm in her hand, anchoring her to reality, but for a moment her world narrows down to Quynh.</p><p>She lets go of Nicky and pushes back the covers, climbing out of the bed. She walks forward slowly, not daring to blink lest the image disappear. Quynh doesn’t move. She lets Andy approach her, her arms by her sides, her eyes wide.</p><p>Andy stops a metre away from her, afraid to reach out and break the illusion.</p><p>---</p><p>Joe is back with two bowls of broth and spoons on a tray. Andy still hasn’t managed to reach out and touch what she is still half-convinced is an illusion. Joe hands the tray to Quynh before taking one of the bowls and spoons in his hands and heading toward the bed in which Nicky is still sleeping.</p><p>Her hands full, Quynh tilts her head down the hallway.</p><p>“The other bedroom is empty.”</p><p>Andy doesn’t yet think she’s capable of speaking, so she nods and wordlessly follows Quynh to the other room. It is, as she said, empty, but it looks as if someone had recently cleaned and dusted it. The sheets look new. She sits heavily down on the bed, already exhausted from the short walk down the hall. Quynh sits down more gracefully beside her, taking care not to tilt the tray. There are a few painful inches of space between them. Andy is still afraid to cross it.</p><p>“Why didn’t you - I thought I dreamed you, back - back there. I thought I imagined it”</p><p>“You didn’t - but every time you saw me you were too out of it to be convinced that I was real, so we thought we should wait until you were really with it until… until we really told you.” Quynh pauses to press the spoon into Andy’s hand, holding out the tray towards her. “They said you’re mortal.”</p><p>“Yes.” Andy takes the tray and starts absentmindedly stirring the broth. It smells good. She might have preferred something a little bit more substantial, but she knows that slower is safer.</p><p>“I won’t believe it until I see it. I won’t believe that a god or fate or <em>rust</em> freed me just in time to lose you.”</p><p>“I’m sorry.” She doesn’t know what else to say. There is nothing she can do to fix this. There is no getting back the last five hundred years. She busies herself with eating silently. Quynh watches her for some time, letting her make her way through half of the bowl before she speaks again.</p><p>“I won’t believe it until I see it,” Quynh repeats, and there’s a fire in her eyes. “You were held captive for almost two months and there isn’t a mark on you. Not even a scratch. I won’t believe it until I see it.”</p><p>Andy’s face softens apologetically. She reaches into her pocket for her pocket knife. Flipping it open, she brings it to the tip of her finger.</p><p>---</p><p>Quynh had closed the gap between them when she had reached across to brush the blood away, and now that Andy has felt the warmth of Quynh’s skin on hers she doesn’t want to let go.</p><p>Quynh encourages her to eat, and she does so with one hand wrapped tightly around Quynh’s, the tray balanced on her knees. When she’s done Quynh takes the tray from her and puts it on the floor before pulling Andy into her arms.</p><p>They tangle themselves around each other.</p><p>They cry.</p><p>Andy cannot even begin to put into words what she’s crying about. It’s everything and it’s nothing. It's the last five hundred years of desperate misery and it’s the rush of the last few minutes. She sobs with Quynh in her arms, kissing away Quynh’s tears as she lets her own fall freely.</p><p>She doesn’t know how long they lie together, only that eventually her tears slow and she lets herself relish in losing herself in eyes (calm, clear, smart, beautiful eyes) that she never thought she’d look into again. She can barely comprehend the elation swelling in her heart - it’s been so long, and yet, impossibly, they are all together again. Quynh, Joe, Nicky… <em>Nicky</em>. Her breath stutters as the implications of it all hit her.</p><p>She buries her face into Quynh’s chest as she starts to cry again.</p><p>“It was for nothing.”</p><p>She doesn’t want to leave Quynh’s embrace, but the longer she lies there the more she needs to see Nicky. Gripping Quynh’s hand, refusing to let her go, she climbs out of bed and makes her way to the other bedroom, pulling Quynh along with her. She follows without resistance until they get to the door. Andy turns to face her, the question in her eyes.</p><p>“He doesn’t know yet. He was more out of it than you were.” </p><p>Andy nods, understanding. “Maybe… maybe one unbelievable thing at a time.”</p><p>She takes a second to press a desperate kiss to Quynh’s lips, revelling in being able to taste them again after so long, before letting go of her hand and making her way into the room. Quynh closes the door and Andy hears soft footsteps padding away.</p><p>She stops abruptly when she reaches the bed. He’s asleep again, or perhaps still - she hopes he ate. He’s so painfully thin. He looks as fragile as she’s ever seen him and it was all - she chokes back a sob as she reaches down to put her hands on his forearms.</p><p>Her grip leaves pale fingerprints where she held on too hard and the blood was pushed away from the surface. She lets go quickly, dropping his arms to press her forehead to his.</p><p>He blinks awake as her tears drop from her face onto his.</p><p>“Andy, what - ” His brow is furrowed worriedly and she laughs tearily, trying to brush away the tension with her fingers. Before she can stop him he’s pushing himself up on a shaking arm, cupping her face in his hand, thumbing away her tears. “Andy?”</p><p>She leans back, pulling out her pocket knife. Flipping it open, she brings the end to her palm. Nicky’s face blanches in panic. “Andy - ”</p><p>Before he can grab the knife from her she is running it across her hand. In seconds Nicky is tearing the knife from her grip and tossing it aside before scrambling to put pressure on her hand with a corner of the bedsheet.</p><p>“Andy <em>what are you doing</em>?” The look on his face is panicked, the worry obvious in his eyes. “Hold that down, we need to... why would you - ?” He starts pushing back the covers, trying to climb out of bed.</p><p>“Joe!” he calls panickedly. “J - ” She grabs his arm, cutting him off. Her fingers wrap around his wrist easily. There’s barely anything left to him and it was all for - “Joe!” </p><p>She tugs gently on his wrist, pulling him back down onto the bed. It doesn’t take much force and that realization makes her heart clench.</p><p>“Nicky. Nicky… look. Look, sweetheart.” She pulls back the bloodied bedsheet and stretches her hand wide, turning her palm towards him.</p><p>He looks down at it briefly but then shakes his head incredulously, “Yes, Andy, blood, I see that, now <em>please </em>- ”</p><p><em>“Nicolò.”</em> He blinks, pausing at the plea in her voice. <em>“Nico, just look, look closely.”</em> She moves her hand closer toward him as he slumps back down, his limited energy leaving him. Carefully, he takes her hand in his, holding it as if it were made of glass.</p><p>Most of the blood is already dry, and he peers down at it with a confused frown on his face. She stretches her hand wide, spreading her fingers. He winces, “No, don’t do that, Andy, let it clot, it - ” She does it again, unable to bite back a fond smile. </p><p>“Andy - ” It’s then that he realizes that no new blood has welled up.</p><p> </p>
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<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Chapter 3</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Thank you to socvrates for the beta!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Nicky is blinking up at her with wide eyes.</p><p>“But -” Andy shakes her head, unable to stop herself from grinning. He runs his thumb over her bloody but unblemished palm. “But…”</p><p>Andy shrugs. “I don’t know how. I don’t <em>care</em> how.”</p><p>Nicky is still staring at her, mouth opening and closing as he searches for words. He starts to push himself up and she reaches for him, pulling him into her arms. She lets her tears soak into his shirt. “You did it for nothing.”</p><p>Nicky is pushing her back, holding her shoulders as he waits for her to meet his gaze.</p><p>“Not for nothing. Never for nothing. If it saved you from pain it wasn’t for nothing.”</p><p>“No pain, no hunger would have hurt as much as watching <em>this</em> happen to you.”</p><p>He shrugs a shoulder. His t-shirt slips off of it, revealing a prominent collarbone. Andy can’t tear her eyes away. With a huff she reaches over to pull it back up.</p><p>“I know hunger, Andy.”</p><p>“I know. I know and I hate that you do.”</p><p>“We all do.”</p><p>“That doesn’t help, Nico.”</p><p>He grips her hand. “It was worth it, Andy, never think otherwise. Maybe I’m selfish, but <em>I</em> wouldn’t have been able to handle losing you like that. Not if I didn’t do everything I possibly could to prevent it.”</p><p>She sighs, cupping his cheek in her hand. She sits beside him, pulling him into her side, an impossibly fond look in her eyes.</p><p>“There’s something else.”</p><p>Nicky freezes. “Something else? What could compare to this?”</p><p>“It does. Easily.”</p><p>Nicky’s breath picks up, and she feels him start to panic. Resting her chin on his head she presses a kiss to his hair.</p><p>“It’s good news, I promise.”</p><p>Nicky frowns. “Good news?”</p><p>“Would I ever lie to you, Nico?”</p><p>“Yes,” he replies without hesitation.</p><p>She snorts. “Would I ever lie when it mattered?”</p><p>He sighs. “No,” he concedes.</p><p>She ruffles his hair, laughing when he ducks away from her hand, and gets up.</p><p>Moving to the door, she opens it and peers outside. She doesn’t see anyone, but she hears voices, so she follows the sound down the stairs to the kitchen.</p><p>Joe and Quynh are seated at the table, conversing softly over tea. They both look up at the sound of Andy’s footsteps. Joe is immediately on his feet.</p><p>“Is he... was he sick?”</p><p>Andy sobers quickly. “What? No, he’s fine, Joe, wait, did he already - ?”</p><p>Joe is grabbing a glass of water and heading for the staircase before Andy can say anything. She grabs his arm as he passes her.</p><p>“Joe. He’s fine. <em>He’s fine.</em>” Andy reassures Joe with a quick smile. “I thought the best way to tell him would be to show him.”</p><p>Joe’s eyes zero in on the dried blood on her hand. “Ah.”</p><p>Andy shrugs unrepentantly before heading to the sink and turning on the water.</p><p>“Well, this and… “ she turns around, wiping her now-clean hands off on her pants.</p><p>Quynh nods, getting to her feet. She wrings her hands nervously.</p><p>Joe’s glance turns to Quynh. “Ah.”</p><p>---</p><p>They make their way up the stairs in silence before pausing at the bedroom door. Joe makes his way in first, nudging Nicky gently awake while Quynh grips Andy’s hand anxiously as they wait at the door.</p><p>“Habibi?” Nicky wakes, sleepily blinking his eyes. Joe kisses the corner of his mouth before grinning down at him. “Nico. Tesoro mio. I want to promise you that you’re awake, okay?”</p><p>Nicky narrows his eyes suspiciously. “That sounds like something a figment of my imagination would say if I were dreaming.”</p><p>Joe huffs out a laugh. “Andy healed, do you remember?” Joe almost needs the confirmation for himself, he had been afraid to believe it when Quynh had told him. Nicky nods slowly.</p><p>“Yes.”</p><p>Joe quirks a smile. “Okay. The… I mean…” He glances at the door.</p><p>Nicky’s sharp eyes follow his to the door. “She said there was something else.”</p><p>“There is.”</p><p>Nicky raises an eyebrow, the question clear.</p><p>Joe clears his throat. “Uh, Andy, now would be a good time.”</p><p>Andy pushes the door open further, stepping inside the room and tugging Quynh behind her.</p><p>Nicky stares.</p><p>Quynh stares back.</p><p>“You said I wasn’t dreaming, Joe,” Nicky mumbles accusingly. Quynh chokes on a sob before rushing towards Nicky, who lets out a surprised “oh” as she wraps her arms around him.</p><p>Once his brain has processed the information he tentatively raises his own arms to hug her back.</p><p>“Quynh?”</p><p><em>“Nicolò. Little brother.”</em> It’s a language he hasn’t heard in centuries.</p><p><em>“How? Are you okay? When did you...?”</em> it feels foreign on his tongue but he welcomes it wholeheartedly.</p><p>She pulls back, lightly tracing his face with her fingers.</p><p>
  <em>“Later. For now, just… thank you.”</em>
</p><p>---</p><p>They eat dinner piled together in the bed. Nile and Booker are watching a movie downstairs, and the soft murmur of noise makes the house feel full and warm.</p><p>Andy suspects that she is going to get tired of soup very quickly, but it appears to be all that Joe will be making them for a while. He promises that tomorrow, at least, he will give her more than just the broth.</p><p>They all know how painful starting to eat too quickly can be.</p><p>Nicky doesn’t manage to get much down, pushing his bowl aside before long, his face pale. Joe sighs, face pinched with worry, but doesn’t press. Andy pulls Nicky’s head to rest in her lap, briefly smoothing away the tension in his face with her thumb, before continuing to eat.</p><p>---</p><p>Joe has pulled Nicky up between his legs to lean against his chest. He is already deeply asleep. Andy leans against Joe’s shoulder, her arm around Quynh who is tucked against her other side.</p><p>“How?” Andy isn’t sure what she’s asking, but Joe answers anyway.</p><p>“We called Booker. Copley finally had a location but we knew we couldn’t take it with just the two of us, so we called him.” Joe looks over at Quynh. Her eyes are drooping closed, blinking sleepily, her breath slow and soft. “She’d just found him. When she heard -”</p><p>“I came.” Her voice is barely a murmur.</p><p>“How long?” Andy can’t help but ask.</p><p>“How long had I been out?” Andy nods, her chin brushing against Quynh’s hair.</p><p>“A few months.” Andy stiffens despite herself. Quynh reaches over to take her hand, lacing their fingers together. “I wasn’t ready. I’m sorry.”</p><p>Andy can feel tears building again. She can’t remember the last time she cried like this. She shakes her head emphatically. “No. No, don’t be sorry. <em>I’m</em> sorry.”</p><p>“<em>We’re</em> sorry.”</p><p>Quynh pushes herself up, looking intently at their faces in turn. “No. No. I saw - I mean I dreamed…”</p><p>Joe frowns. “You dreamed of us? Even though - ?”</p><p>Quynh shakes her head. “No, I dreamed of Booker. I dreamed of Booker watching you watch the sea, Andy, for hours. I dreamed of Booker watching Nicky hold Joe as he cried. I dreamed of Booker sitting with Nicky while Nicky told him how you searched. How many times you all drowned. How he still searched sometimes, when he got a chance to do it in secret. He cried, after, when he thought he was alone. I don’t think he knows that Booker saw. I dreamed so many things, both when I was down there, and when I got out. I know you never forgot.”</p><p>“You had to go through it alone. Five hundred years of drowning,” Quynh’s breath hitches. Andy starts running her hand through her hair as she continues. “And then after all that you had nobody with you.”</p><p>“People found me. They helped me.” They lapse into silence. Joe and Andy can tell that Quynh doesn’t want to say anything further. They know she’ll talk when she’s ready.</p><p>For now they are together and that’s enough.</p>
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